Tools

Goose Wing Hewing Axe, c. 1860 made by the Bradley Axe Co., Weston CT, gift of Walter R.T. Smith

Goose Wing Hewing Axe, c. 1860 made by the Bradley Axe Co., Weston CT, gift of Walter R.T. Smith

“Tools of the Trades” is a permanent exhibition of more than 600 tools used by the trades common to New England. Presented in the 19th-century Abbott barn, this monumental collection features tools for house-building and woodworking, broom-, shoe,- hat- and basket-making, coopering, fishing and oystering, hay-, grain- and ice-harvesting tools, all drawn from the 4000 item trove of tool collector extraordinaire, Walter R. T. Smith (1922 – 2015; Two-term President, Emeritus Trustee, master builder, building historian and preservationist).  Many of the tools were made in or around Wilton, Connecticut.


View a video of Walter T. R. Smith describing the tool collection.

“Tools of the Trades” by Walter R. T. Smith, August 2012 from The Wilton Historical Society on Vimeo.